Question: What's the deal with the "optional" updates Windows suggests I install? Are they equally unnecessary?

Answer: As a general rule, you should install the optional updates that you won't see afterward and skip the ones that you would notice.

Most items in this category of patches — presented in the Control Panel's Windows Updates screen but left off your computer unless you tell Windows it's OK to install them — consist of background fixes that help parts of your PC work better together.

For example, ".Net framework" downloads offer code that other apps borrow for common purposes, while driver updates help Windows talk to such parts of your PC's hardware as its video card.

I have no gripe with the first type of optional update, unless one doesn't install (my ThinkPad consistently balked at installing a Bluetooth patch when it ran Windows 7 but hasn't had that issue since I did a clean install of Windows 8).

But three separate add-on programs, which each run as distinct programs in your browser or on your desktop, don't add as much value and shouldn't be in this category of updates.

— Silverlight, a browser plug-in that plays audio and video, has tumbled out of relevancy over the last five years. About the only place you'll find it is at Netflix and some tech-support pages at Microsoft's site.

— The Bing Bar adds a toolbar with shortcuts to functions at Microsoft's Bing search site. But current releases of Microsoft's Internet Explorer, Google's Chrome or Mozilla Firefox all provide the most direct search-engine access possible: Type your query in the address bar or a search box next to it, and it routes it to the search engine of your choice.

— Bing Desktop changes your PC's desktop wallpaper to the picture of the day at Microsoft's search site, lets you check your Facebook News Feed and a few other info sources from your desktop, and provides some search shortcuts. Some of this could be useful on a larger monitor, but I'd just as soon not gum up my system with extra software or make my laptop's smaller display any more cluttered.

A Microsoft publicist didn't explain what criteria the company uses to decide which potential Windows "enhancements" get this extra marketing push.

At the same time, don't wait to install required updates. Windows 7 and 8 are pretty good at making you get these stability and security fixes, but you knew you're not supposed to hold up on those, right?

Tip: Automator actions can speed up some Mac chores

Ever since OS X 10.4 Tiger, the cute little robot icon of Apple's Automator app has been getting overlooked by many Mac users who might benefit from its ability to zip through many common tasks. I can't entirely blame them: Apple hides this program in the Utilities sub-folder of OS X's Applications list, and assembling an Automator "action" out of jobs performed by separate apps requires thinking a little like a developer.

But many of these actions can spare you some tedious clicking, dragging, dropping and typing. For example, say you want to assemble a series of separate text files into one. You could open each one and copy its contents into a master file.

Or you could write an Automator action for that: Select "Files & Folders" from its left-hand column, choose "Get Specified Finder Items," then select "Text" from that left-hand column and choose "Combine Text Files," go to Automator's File menu and select "Convert To…" and then save it as an application. Boom, you just wrote yourself an app.

I'm not saying this doesn't require some learning. But it can be worth a little upfront work.